Is there not a right wing forum you and your nutjob zealot mates can post on
What exactly is the GGA?
It seems to want to be a political,a cultural and a sporting organisation and is making as ass of all 3
[quote=âThe Wild Colonial Bhoy, post: 838868, member: 80â]Is there not a right wing forum you and your nutjob zealot mates can post on
[/quote]
Try this one mate
www.thefreekick.com
They were filleted.
[SIZE=4]Nineteen players in Davyâs living room with Mi Wadi and biscuits⌠[/SIZE]
Monday, September 30, 2013
Yesterday morning in Dublinâs Clyde Court Hotel, Davy Fitzgerald sat down with a handful of journalists to discuss Clareâs triumph. So frank and revealing were his words over those 18 minutes or so, weâve run the transcript of the interview almost in its entirety.
John Fogarty
Question: What does it feel like this morning?
Davy Fitzgerald: âI suppose it still has not sunk in, but it is one of immense satisfaction. I am still the same. I am still so thrilled for the lads. I didnât touch a drop (of alcohol) because I just wanted to soak in the atmosphere and just watched the rest of them and to see them the way they were is fantastic because they have had some tough times. In fairness, we won a lot of our matches but the public heaped expectation, which is tough, when we lost games and we expect a lot of ourselves so just to see them the way they were last night was brilliant.â
Q: The team shipped some criticism within the county?
Davy Fitz: âI didnât understand that. They could see the talent, but we had a talented team in 2009 and we didnât win anything. Limerick won three U21s in-a-row and did not win anything. The transition is unreal to go from U21 up to senior. Donât anyone tell me that because you have won U21s that you are going to win senior. The big thing for us was that we were able to have so many U21s in our panel, so that we had control of them and we could what we wanted to do. The style of play that we have adopted in the last year and a half has helped because we did not have that style of play in Clare and we had not won any All-Ireland medals at minor level so I am delighted the way things worked out.â
Q: Clare played a more mixed style yesterday?
Davy Fitz: âIt is short when it needs to be short, that is the thing. To be able to do that⌠I look back at some of yesterdayâs game and I was amazed at the way they threw the ball around. We threw the ball around yesterday under pressure and it was unreal but Cork did the same thing, but that is Cork and that is what they are used to.â
Q: Did you personally pay a price for taking heat off your players?
Davy Fitz: âPeople have their opinion no matter what but that is my job. My job is to make sure that they are protected, that is what I am here for. There are so many young lads but with most of the teams that I am with, I will try and do that. I donât read the newspapers, I had a look at them this morning, but I donât read them because I want to stay focused. I have a lad who reads them and if there is anything there that he is not happy with he tells me. I try to stay in my own little bubble and I know that I say stuff but you are trying to deflect attention. The way I look at it is, okay, you can say it, deflect away the attention but stay focused on what has to be done. It doesnât matter. That is what I do.â
Q: Some of the personal stuff, does it hurt?
Davy Fitz: âI have been told that there have been a few people who have said x, y and z. I can guarantee you that none of them know me or know what I am like. Trust me, I have seen the best managers in the game absolutely devour referees. I would be fairly certain that some of the referees wouldnât have any time for me. I am fairly certain of that.â
Q: Has that hurt Clare â even yesterday?
Davy Fitz: âIt certainly does not help. But what do I do? If I feel strongly about a decision I will argue it and you are trying your best to bite your lip but if you feel strongly about it you are going to say it. I have seen the best do it, I have seen Brian Cody argue unreal. He might not get as animated as me but he is able to get his decision across as well.â
Q: Do you think that is important for a manager?
Davy Fitz: âSome people donât, I do. I wonât say why I do but letâs just say⌠I wonât say it because I just know at certain times it does work but if I see something I am not making up stuff. There was two or three frees there (on Saturday), and you didnât need me (to know it was wrong). You could hear the crowd the way they were. I did not knock the referee after the first one, I didnât need to do it. Everyone else around the county had their say about it, I am not going to knock the referee the first day or yesterday. My God, we had to work extremely hard to get over the line.â
Q: This makes a change from the heckles in Cusack Park following the defeat to Waterford in February when your style was criticised.
Davy Fitz: âThatâs what makes it more satisfying now. Itâs funny, you have so many fellas coming out saying they changed Clare hurling. I think itâs fucking great. Iâm looking back six months ago, there wasnât too many of them saying they had anything to do with Clare hurling. Itâs just that I was destroying it. The one thing Iâm happy about personally is that I had a belief and I didnât waiver when it was, trust me, easy to waiver. The difference in waking up this morning and the difference in waking up after the Waterford league game, after the Tipperary league game. I would take things very personally and I would not be in a good spot after we lose them. I go home and Iâm not a good person to be around. I take it to heart something wicked and Iâd wake up the next morning and as a Clare man I took that massive to heart, them defeats. When youâre getting absolutely slaughtered at the same time it doesnât help. You donât want to go down to the shop, you donât want to go any place. No matter what criticism youâre getting youâre feeling so bad yourself. My whole dream was to see Clare being successful. We had a great team in the 70s that I supported as a young boy. I loved going to watch them guys. Thatâs what made me love Clare hurling. My only thing was that I wanted to make a difference in Clare if I could and just get Clare to be successful. I would fight on my back if I believe in something. Some people like it, some people donât. I just have to deal with that. It isnât easy, you want everyone to like you but itâs not going to work. Iâd like to think I have a good heart in me but everyone isnât going to like you.
Q: Unlike previous defeats, you didnât go to ground the Monday after the Munster semi-final loss.
Davy Fitz: âI didnât probably feel as bad after the Cork semi-final would you believe. Everyone was down and I asked the boys to come back to my house which was probably different to any managerâŚ
Q: What was behind that?
Davy Fitz: âI wanted to show them that theyâre like my family. I said it to them, people who are special to me come into my front sitting room and sit down and spend time with me. We spent three hours in my front sitting room that night and we had an unbelievable chat. There was no throwing stones. You would not believe it, the whole of my sitting room, I had the forwards at one end and I had the backs and I got them a bit of paper and said, âWrite down what you thinkâ. Then we talked out the points in the sitting room. I was trying to think to myself afterwards, this is unreal.
Q: How many?
Davy Fitz: âThe 19 players that played that day, I brought them to the room.
Q: Didnât bring any of the others?
Davy Fitz: âNo, I just wanted the fellas that were on the field that day to find out⌠I did it for two reasons, I wanted to find out what was in their heads and I wanted to kill it there and then and get back on the horse and go again. And I wanted them to see how much they meant to me. It was an unreal experience, even for me.
âI remember going down the street and buying the Mi Wadi orange and biscuits and all that and having them on the table when they came in and if Joe OâConnor, our sports scientist, knew I did that heâd be cracking with me.â
Q: All the trigger points come against Cork this year? Relegation final, etc.
Davy Fitz: âIâll tell you a good one now. About a week before the relegation final I was sitting down at home with my dad (county secretary Pat), the week before it. We had beaten Cork in the Waterford Crystal and in the league and I said, âWe have the relegation final, we have the Championship, I donât fucking think we can win the two of themâ. And thatâs a fact. And he said to me, âI think we need to stay in one (Division 1A),â he said, âand I think weâll get another chance at the Championshipâ. That was my feeling myself and that was genuine, even though we could have won the semi-final I felt that if we beat Cork in the relegation (final) they were going to come out like absolute men possessed in the semi-final and I knew it was going to be hard but to win the relegation was a massive thing for us as a team.â
Q: For your long term development as well?
Davy Fitz: âThe county went a bit mad. They all went to Limerick, there was a good Clare crowd there that day and I remember Louis Mulqueen said to me afterwards that this lady came down and threw a (match) programme at him and hit him in the face and said you can take your short game and shove it where the sun donât shine. I was walking down after the interviews and I was getting absolutely dogged. The one thing I kept saying to the lads all year: âdonât let that feeling leave you, keep that feelingâ. I will keep that feeling with me because thatâs what makes me, always grounds me and brings me back. Listen, a pat in the back and a kick in the arse there is nothing in it. Iâm the same person today as I was last week. Thatâs how I look at it.â
Q: Did you come away from the Mi Wadi party feeling it was therapeutic?
Davy Fitz: âI knew it felt good. I donât know if any year will ever be the same as this year with those guys. Obviously, as a manager you are going to make tough decisions with some lads I dropped earlier in the year. Trust me, there were a few really good lads let go at the start of this year. Lads who didnât play this year like Conor Cooney, Jonathan Clancy â they have played for years. Fergal Lynch. And I want to say this publicly, Fergal Lynch gets a doing in Clare from supporters that is so unjust and so unfair. They do not realise his value to the Clare team. Fergal Lynch is so, so, so immense. As a leader, the boys adore him. He gets them going when he comes on the team and changes them again. He is a super guy. People are wrong. Fergal Lynch is a special guy and deserves a lot of singling out. As I said for the other two guys, Conor and John, they played for Clare for years, Donal Tuohy theyâve been left on the sideline. And is it hard. Will I keep 37 lads happy? No. Iâm sure there are five or six who feel they should be playing but Iâm sure every manager in the country accepts that is going to be the way.â
Q: You were the only candidate when you took the job. What does that say to you?
Davy Fitz: âI donât think people wanted to take on the challenge, they were after being beaten by Galway very convincingly a few years ago. In my view Sparrow (Ger OâLoughlin) had started the process. I believe there was an awful weeding out, our culture in Clare for a while was not good. I believe we didnât mind ourselves and I said that to the players, I donât believe we got the best out of ourselves in the mid 2000s. You canât be a social animal and hope to play well. I think, in fairness, Mike Mac and them and Considine had his time and fair play to them all, Iâm not going to knock anyone no matter how I feel. Everyone did their best. Sparrow had the toughest job, Mike Mac did well getting to a Munster final, Sparrow came in and he had to start from scratch.â
Q: You talk of social animals but this is life-changing for a very young team?
Davy Fitz: âThey are good lads. We have a code, if I am in charge next year you will stick by the code, you will not break it. We have principles and I would like to think that we will stick by the principles. After the first All-Ireland (game), I will let them out and enjoy themselves for the night. Every now and again, they are allowed to let the hair down as long as they conduct themselves in a proper manner. That is very important to us because they are role models for a lot of kids and I want them to be that way. They are really nice guys and I want to make sureâŚIâll keep reminding them of the tough days.â
Bar the mistake Sullivan had a good game, particularly 2nd half. McDonnell had his best game of the year, Joyce not far behind him (who seemed to swap). Corks backs, generally, are not the issue. And the issues further up are certainly improve-able considering the age profile is very young.
Very good article by Gizzy Lyng in todays Independent
[SIZE=6]Diarmuid Lyng: Davy Fitzâs flaws scream at you, but thatâs his magic[/SIZE]
Diarmuid Lyng â 30 September 2013
[SIZE=5]Bad karma isnât something I would have ever associated with Jimmy Barry-Murphy, but he called it during the week, imploring someone to emulate Walter Walshâs heroics last year and turn the replay on its head.[/SIZE]
It turned out to be a call to a 19-year-old from Eire Og, the personification of a new breed of hurler in Clare. Theyâre young, confident, capable and most importantly of all, theyâve accepted winning as something theyâre permitted to do.
They arenât waiting to be invited to the top table of hurling. Theyâve arrived, invited or not, in a blaze of blue and gold.
Barry-Murphyâs opposite number is a different story. We know so much, the pundits and the people. With the depth of analysis and real-time information that has swept through sport like a wildfire, we are in the know now as soon as it happens.
But some things are kept away from us.
Whether we like it or not, [U]Davy[/U] Fitzgerald (pictured) is an enigma. From the outside it looks like chaos. Ego. Blind determination. But inside the Clare dressing- room itâs nothing like that. Maybe inside his head itâs nothing like that either. It canât be all madness and trench warfare. Thereâs method in there. Thereâs real love in there too. Thatâs how they speak about him.
We can dress it up whatever way we like. But itâs clear. It was clear for me talking to Brendan Bugler after the game. âIf youâd one thing to say to Davy, Brendan, what would it be?â âI love you,â came the reply. Donât feel like you have to squirm. Itâs real and itâs tangible and itâs pure.
Brendan is a smart guy. He doesnât follow blindly. The opposite in fact. Heâs a leader. Off the field as well as on. And thatâs what he would say to Davy Fitz.
The aristocracy will find his many flaws. In fact, we all will. Itâs impossible not to. Because theyâre in your face. They scream at you. Get under your skin. The imperfection of it all. And that, for me, is his magic. Perfectionism is overrated. In fact, itâs a curse. The lack of acceptance of things as they are, not as they should be.
Of course, he shouldnât run on to the field. Of course, he shouldnât remonstrate from the sideline. And weâll laugh and jeer when heâs told to get back in his box. But the reason he has fulfilled his greatest ambition is that he has no box to get back into. And because he accepted Clare hurlers for what they are, not how much like Kilkennyâs prototype they could be.
Be annoyed. Get angry.
He canât be pencilled in to an area of our lives that we are satisfied that we have an understanding and a control over â because heâs absolutely pure. That little ⌠but he is. Heâs purely himself. Thereâs nothing more pure. Nothing more unique. Nothing more important in a time when weâre encouraged to fit in, instead of being courageous enough to stand out. Put it all on the line and say: âThis is who I am and this is what Iâm about.â
But, of course, itâs not all about Davy Fitz. Theyâre a unique bunch. Shane OâDonnell wonât celebrate for the month because heâs looking to get back to the club. Patrick Donnellan feels lucky to be part of a great group of guys that are enjoying something they were apparently born to do. Theyâre as modest as they are talented. Little fear for Cork in it all, too.
The Rebels were second best, but they had a solidity that defied their experience. Clare are young. Cork are every bit as young. Clare have dominated national finals under age. Cork are mobilising. Theyâll be back.
Seamus Harnedyâs 60th minute goal could have swung it in their favour. It would have been a coup. But thatâs the team thatâs developing. A team with the ability to deal with almost whatever Clare threw at them. Thereâs as much resilience there as there is talent. Just not enough on the day. Just as one superpower flounder, another one steps into the breach.
We can look forward again now. Ponder without fear of getting a beating by a Cat for even thinking about winning. Waterford will raise their head above the parapet for a while longer now. Limerick will spend less time in the trench. Wexford will begin to dream again. The year belongs to Clare. But weâre all better off.
As well as miscontrolling the ball to allow McGrath set up OâDonnellâs second goal, I thought OâSullivan was very poor for McGrathâs goal. Not sure how he let him emerge from the ruck with the ball without getting a shot at him. McGrath had him in trouble throughout, I felt.
Disagree completely with @Sidney on McInerney. He got caught in possession twice in the first half - once after a long solo run into the opposition half and the other time with a risky pass that led to Horgan running in on goal before being crowded out. But he was absolutely excellent otherwise, particularly in the second half. His defending during Clareâs difficult spell in the third quarter was superb.
[quote=âchewy louie, post: 838896, member: 1137â]Very good article by Gizzy Lyng in todays Independent
It turned out to be a call to a 19-year-old from Eire Og, the personification of a new breed of hurler in Clare. Theyâre young, confident, capable and most importantly of all, theyâve accepted winning as something theyâre permitted to do.
They arenât waiting to be invited to the top table of hurling. Theyâve arrived, invited or not, in a blaze of blue and gold.
.[/quote]
ahemâŚblue and Gold is TipperaryâŚsaffron and blue is ClareâŚ
[quote=âBandage, post: 838897, member: 9â]As well as miscontrolling the ball to allow McGrath set up OâDonnellâs second goal, I thought OâSullivan was very poor for McGrathâs goal. Not sure how he let him emerge from the ruck with the ball without getting a shot at him. McGrath had him in trouble throughout, I felt.
Disagree completely with @Sidney on McInerney. He got caught in possession twice in the first half - once after a long solo run into the opposition half and the other time with a risky pass that led to Horgan running in on goal before being crowded out. But he was absolutely excellent otherwise, particularly in the second half. His defending during Clareâs difficult spell in the third quarter was superb.[/quote]
I would agree with both of your points. McGrath got on a world of ball and would have been MOTM only for OâDonnell geting a hat trick. He had OâSullivan in trouble all day.
McInerney was indeed excellent during that spell when Cork were on top and dominated Horgan in the second half. Swept up a lot of ball, himself and Bugler made massive contributions defensively in that third quarter. Domhnall OâDonovan was nowhere near as prominant on Saturday but aside from slipping for a Lehan point he was excellent in what he had to do, including a great catch going back towards his own goal and he drove out with the ball which led to Shane OâDonnellâs second point
There seems to be a view among some people that if there are a lot of goals the game is therefore of a lower standard. You saw it with reaction to the Dublin-Kerry match where the only thing some people could remark upon was that there was poor defending, rather than praising great attacking play. I find it a bizarre view.
You can have a great match without goals, (Cork-Clare 2005, Cork-Offaly 1999, Derry-Dublin 1993 etc) but goals make the really great matches. The 2009 KK-Tipp final was obviously a great match but the lack of goals meant it it was more tense and cat and mouse than the all-out excitement of Saturday, and thatâs also why I preferred the 2010 final which had goals to it.
[quote=âTheUlteriorMotive, post: 838860, member: 2272â]There are lads on here who think about games and tactics more than intercounty managers. Genuinely
Lot of games are not as sophisticated as you would assume
On other hand a lot of players are better and able to do stuff you might not imagine[/quote]
I think thatâs true to an extent. Tactics are more valuable in football. I would say first touch trumps everything now in IC hurling such is the speed of games we are seeing. Clare beat Cork up a stick on this on Saturday.
I think the biggest issue regular punters have difficulty dividing is Structures and Tactics. Killkenny had a very strong structure whereas Tipp had clear tactics. I think Davy also was probably over doing it early on, realized how good these lads were and eased off a bit to let them hurl. A sweeper is both structural and tactical but in reality it has a massive amount to do with the lad you put in there. He has to be a certain type of player.
I do believe Cork were tactically naive Saturday though.
[quote=âcaoimhaoin, post: 838934, member: 273â]I think thatâs true to an extent. Tactics are more valuable in football. I would say first touch trumps everything now in IC hurling such is the speed of games we are seeing. Clare beat Cork up a stick on this on Saturday.
I think the biggest issue regular punters have difficulty dividing is Structures and Tactics. Killkenny had a very strong structure whereas Tipp had clear tactics. I think Davy also was probably over doing it early on, realized how good these lads were and eased off a bit to let them hurl. A sweeper is both structural and tactical but in reality it has a massive amount to do with the lad you put in there. He has to be a certain type of player.
I do believe Cork were tactically naive Saturday though.[/quote]
Tactics are more valuable in football for the obvious reason that the ball doesnât move as fast and players have to be nearer the goal to score, and because itâs a less skilful game. A defensive system like Donegal play will always have a chance of working in football. Hurling will always be a game based largely on individual battles because the ball moves faster and players can score from anywhere up to 70 metres out.
Also just because a forward is good (McGrath) does not automatically mean his opponent (OâSullivan) has had a poor match.
Shane OâDonnellâs 6-5 means he finished as the top scorer from play in the 2013 All-Ireland hurling championship. Tony Kelly finished second with 0-21.
[quote=âSidney, post: 838946, member: 183â]Tactics are more valuable in football for the obvious reason that the ball doesnât move as fast and players have to be nearer the goal to score, and because itâs a less skilful game. A defensive system like Donegal play will always have a chance of working in football. Hurling will always be a game based largely on individual battles because the ball moves faster and players can score from anywhere up to 70 metres out.
Also just because a forward is good (McGrath) does not automatically mean his opponent (OâSullivan) has had a poor match.[/quote]
KK have been playing a defensive system for donkeys yrs. Hold the halfback line deep to protect the fullback line, get the midfielders/halfforwards to come v deep when you lose ball ect. Not rocket science but ultra effective. Cork allowed the fullback line to be totally isolated all through. If Shane OâNeill had anything less than yet another heroic display we were always going to leak goals sooner or later. JBM deserves a lot of credit for steading the ship and getting the side as far as he did but heâs so tactically naĂŻve it beggars belief.
[quote=âmyboyblue, post: 838645, member: 180â]Cork donât tolerate losers
@tomas_mulcahy[/URL] [URL=âhttps://twitter.com/tomas_mulcahy/status/384380560032165888â]35m
What an embarrassment of a welcome home for cork hurlers - Jesus after the enjoyment they gave yesterday -all year - they deserved better !![/quote]
â@KarlLacey4: After two unbelievable days out only 1,000 people could turn up to show their appreciation to Cork hurlers lastnite #DeservedAlotMoreâ
Once Egan was replaced, I thought the Cork backs got on top, they certainly soildified as a unit. The McGrath goal was a real sickener for them as they had the chance to clear it. Naughton was the only switch that didnât work for Cork imo.
Actually Tom Kenny was shite as well come to think of it.
Should two of Clareâs goals stood?? I hate to say it but I think we have another * on our hands here.
Why?
OâDonnell clearly fouled the ball and over did steps for his third goal⌠Honan threw it into the net.